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The Daily Tar Heel

DPS may cut back on transit due to limited transportation fee

_CORRECTION: The original version of this story incorrectly stated that former student body president Hogan Medlin supported the five-year transit plan. Medlin was the lone trustee who
voted against the plan. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for the error._

Chapel Hill Transit might be forced to cut entire bus routes and reduce the frequency of bus stops due to a lack of funds.

After the student fee advisory subcommittee decided to only approve $8.74 of a requested $14.50 student transit fee increase, officials from the Department of Public Safety said they will have to reduce transit to cover budget shortfalls.

The student transit fee covers student contribution to the Chapel Hill Transit contract, Triangle Transit, P2P and Safe Ride funding, and is currently $113.50 a year per student.

The tuition and fee advisory task force approved the subcommittee’s recommendations Thursday, and the fee increase will now be sent to the Board of Governors for final approval.

The smaller fee increase will throw off a five-year transit revenue plan that has already been approved by the University’s Board of Trustees, said Jeff McCracken, chief of campus police.

“It’s disappointing,” McCracken said. “It’s undetermined what exact impact (the subcommittee’s) decision will have.”

The original five-year plan intends to raise the yearly transit fee to as much as $169 by the 2015-2016 school year.

That fee amount would shift the student share of local transit costs from 33 to 46 percent by 2015, said Wilhelmina Steen, assistant director for fiscal services at DPS.

“Right now students account for about 73 percent of local ridership,” Steen said.

The ultimate goal is to reduce the current parking subsidy for transit costs from $1.5 million to $1 million in the next five years.

The Chapel Hill Transit contract is projected to increase approximately $4.5 million during that time, and without the full $14 extra contribution each year, there will be a sizeable gap in funding.

DPS is also dealing with a potential $228 million compound 30-year future debt from UNC’s developmental plan. The plan has led to the construction of five parking decks and three park-and-ride lots since 2004, and calls for two additional decks to be built in the next five years.

Subcommittee members only approved what they understood to be the bare minimum needed for next year, said Dwayne Pinkney, associate provost for finance.

McCracken said DPS discussed the plan with many stakeholders.

“If student representatives cannot be relied upon to honor the commitments of their predecessors, it will make planning for a reliable transportation and parking system, over any period of time, extremely difficult,” McCracken said.

Contact the University Editor at university@dailytarheel.com.

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